Lon Milo DuQUette is the author of more than a dozen books on esoteric subjects, and has served as the OTO’s United States Deputy Grand Master since 1994 This is his second book on Enochian magick, his first being Enochian World of Aleister Crowley: Enochian Sex Magick, co-written with the late Christopher Hyatt.

Enochian Vision Magick opens with an introduction by Clay Holden founder of the John Dee Publication Project, an online archive whose “major purpose of this site is to distribute primary-source materials relevant to the “Enochian” work of John Dee and Edward Kelly”,. Two prologues follow by DuQuette outlining his interest in and involvement with Enochian magick for the past thirty years. Continue reading →

“Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.” – Aleister Crowley

“Magick is the art of causing changes in consciousness in conformity with the Will.” – Dion Fortune

“…We will confine ourselves to an extension of a well-known definition by Aleister Crowley and state that, “Magic is the Science and Art of causing Change, on a material as well as a spiritual level, to occur in conformity with Will by altered states of consciousness.” – Frater U.: D.:, Secrets of Western Sex Magic

“Magick is just the art of changing the focus of consciousness at will.” – Robert Anton Wilson, The Earth Will Shake

“Sorcery: the systematic cultivation of enhanced consciousness or non-ordinary awareness & its deployment in the world of deeds & objects to bring about desired results.” – Hakim Bey, T.A.Z.

“Real magick is not merely an assortment of skills and techniques. It’s more like an open minded attitude, a blend of interest and dedication, which allows each honest mage to observe, to learn, to adapt, and to invent unique ways of changing idenity and reality from within.” – Jan Fries, Visual Magick

“Magic is a set of techniques and approaches which can be used to extend the limits of Achievable Reality. Our sense of Achievable Reality is the limitations which we believe bind us into a narrow range of actions and successes – what we believe to be possible for us at any one time. In this context, the purpose of magic is to simultaneously explore those boundaries and attempt to push them back – to widen the ‘sphere’ of possible action.” -Phil Hine, Condensed Chaos

“Magic is the Highest, most Absolute, and most Divine Knowledge of Natural Philosophy, advanced in its works and wonderful operations by a right understanding of the inward and occult virtue of things; so that true Agents being applied to proper Patients, strange and admirable effects will thereby be produced. Whence magicians are profound and diligent searchers into Nature; they, because of their skill, know how to anticipate an effect, the which to the vulgar shall seem to be a miracle.” – The Goetia of the Lemegeton of King Solomon.

Courage is the criterion of belief. To back one horse and fancy another means willing one thing and believing another. Magic (faith) is simply a means of unifying Desire and Belief. The subconscious mind is employed to create your belief and unite it to a real desire. – Austin Osman Spare, Two Tracts on Cartomancy

“Everything works by magick; science represents a small domain of magick where coincidences have a relatively high probability of occurrence. Half of the skills in magick consist of identifying probabilities worth enhancing…Magick will not free itself from occultism until we have strangled the last astrologer with the guts of the last spiritual master.” – Peter Carroll, PsyberMagick: Advanced Ideas in Chaos Magick

“Magic is not necromanteia – a raising of dead material substances endowed with an imagined life – but a psychological branch of science, dealing with the sympathetic effects of stones, drugs, herbs, and living substances upon the imaginative and reflective faculties – and leading to ever new glimpses of the world of wonders around us, ranking it in due order of phenomena and illustrating the beneficence of The Great Architect of the Universe.” – Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie

“The change in situations or events in accordance with one’s will, which would, using normally accepted methods, be unchangeable.” – Anton Szandor LaVey, The Satanic Bible

“The true practice of magic depends on the legitimacy of the individual human will. The magician wills something to occur which under ordinary circumstances would not occur, and thereby demonstrates the reality of his or her own individuality. Magicians make the world dance according to their tunes, religionists seek to find the tune of the world and have it teach them how to dance.” – Crystal Dawn and Stephen Flowers, Carnal Alchemy

“Unless a man be born a magician, and God have destined him even from his birth to the work, so that spirits do willingly come of their own accord – which doth happen to few – a man must use only of those things herein set down, or written in our other books of occult philosophy, as means to fix the mind upon the work to be done; for it is in the power of the mind itself that spirits do come and go, and magical works are done, and all things in nature are but as uses to induce the will to rest upon the point desired.” – Cornelius Agrippa

“Magick is the art of belief.” – ludrikos muttleyos, on chaoskaos

“I honestly can’t conceive of why anyone would want to ‘make’ magick into ‘anything’ […] [d]on’t attempt to put it into static terms. Use it an mutate it. At least I see people debating it, which assures me that the idea itself isn’t losing all of it’s transient nature. Part of the divine mystique that shrouds the essence of magick is the fact that it is unexplainable and undefineable – magick transcends reason, duh. Reason and time […] magick transcends LOGIC. (Discordianism, anyone? Fnord.) Logic, is also a workable paradigm, but not a necessity to understanding or compreheding a concpet. There are plenty of things in life not worth explaining in words. There are plenty of ideas one can procure to realise through self-discovery and learning that no one can represent effectively with words – non-verbal uinderstanding. ‘Intuition’ and ‘gut’ comes to mind as being one of those things. Yes, apparently idiots -are- still trying to make magick into a science – but idiots are also trying to confine it as an ‘art’ as well.” – triskele, on the zee-list

“Magic is the most useful too for bending the odds to our favour in an given circumstance, but does not go beyond the scope of being a tool concurrently aiding your mundane efforts.” – Joshua Wetzel, The Paradigmal Pirate: Liber Lll And Liber Ventum

“Magick is the practice of imposing one’s will upon reality in order to create change. The changes created by magick can take place in the outside world, but the most potent changes occur inside the self – changing attitudes, expanding abilities, pushing accepted limits – all through the exercise of willpower.” – Michelle Belanger, Psychic Dreamwalking: Explorations at the Edge of Self

“Magick…may be defined as the process of projecting psychic energy into physical reality where it can then take shape as a spirit. The higher spirits, such as angels, derive from superconsciousness, the oversoul in which the mind exists as a part, whereas the lower spirits, such as demons, derive from subconsciousness, the repressed fears and traumatic experiences of the practitioner.” – Frater W.I.T., Enochian Initiation: A Thelemite’s Magical Journey into the Ultimate Transcendence

“Magic is a psychological art form not a belief system (unless, of course you consider the concept of ’cause and effect’ to be a belief system).” – Lon Milo DuQuette, The Key to Solomon’s Key

“…[R]eal magic is attuning your spirit and intention with the holon of the universe by gaining a deeper awareness of its parts.” – Clea Danaan, Sacred Land

“Magic is a set of techniques (skills which you can develop) which allow you to create a change in the world around you and yourself by means that are not understood by scientists, religionists, or psychologists.” – Nicholas Graham, The Four Powers

“Magick may be described as a system of communication, a language used exclusively between the conscious (the logical mind) and the subconscious (the thinking mind). During the dialogue, the magician’s objective is to use his logical mind to convince the thinking mind to reveal a method by which to directly access the superconsciousness, the higher mind…the Holy Guardian Angel.” – Gerald del Campo, The Heretic’s Guide to Thelema

“Magick provides the tools to accomplish two things: First is to “know thyself” – to use techniques like journaling, meditation, ritual, and invocation to identify your personal strengths and successes – and thereby discover your true Will. The second is to use the same tools to accomplish your Will. – Richard Kaczynski, The Weiser Concise Guide to Aleister Crowley

Seventy years later, Francis Israel Regardie’s works remain today a principal source of information regarding the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. He believed that the Golden Dawn was “the sole depository of magical knowledge” and “the only Occult Order of any real worth”. While this may seem slightly exaggerated, it certainly was at the forefront of the scene at the time.

While he may have believed in the order’s practical and mystical methods, he no longer believed the Golden Dawn was the ideal medium to transmit this knowledge. As others (primarily Crowley) had already disclosed some of it, he thought it prudent to reveal all its teachings to the public to ensure its preservation.

However much he believed in the order, he also offered some harsh criticisms against its Chiefs, leaders, and members primarily in regards to grade-lust. Regardie touched on the order’s various complications and its complex history, believing that “[t]he root of the trouble, quite apart from the grade misconceptions as well as the curse of vanity, was of course that the work was only cursorily performed. No one really cared a fig for Magic and spiritual development. No one really strived for mastery of any technique. Grades, and grades alone, were the goal”. This may remain familiar to many currently practicing in various orders or groups. Unfortunately, no obvious solutions are forthcoming, at least not for ‘saving’ or ‘curing’ the order itself.

Regardie presents a more or less balanced view of his experience with the order, pointing out its faults, while continuing to revere its teachings. He received flack for the publication of this, and other Golden Dawn material, however he believed he was acting in accordance with the Work itself. Indeed, he rather boldly states: “If I am guilty of treachery and have mistakenly worked against the intent and purpose of the true occult forces behind the Golden Dawn…then willingly I open myself to the avenging punitive current…if my present act be contrary to the true intent of whatever divine powers may be, willingly let my “Rose be blasted and my power in Magic cease”. Evidently the powers that be did not take offence.

He gives an overview of the order’s grades and basic theory, as well as an outline of its syllabus. Further commentaries from other authors are tacked on to the end, as well as additional documents supporting Regardie’s claims.

It seems almost gossipy at times, however reservedly presented. The use of magickal mottos or their initials in lieu of mundane names may be a term of respect or to preserve member’s privacy, but it may seem difficult for those not already acquainted with the subjects to keep track of who’s who, and the fluctuation between mundane and motto may further flummox the reader.

This presents an interesting perspective and personal history of the Golden Dawn, and should prove a fascinating read for anyone considering joining or learning more about their teachings.

This books is a paradox in that it is both an excellent reference book and tome and at the same time illustrates what happens when a magician becomes inflexible. Lisiewski makes some excellent points about the new age movement of magic and the problems that can occur if you only visualization. Also his point about being as faithful as possible to the grimoires you work with is well worth noting in terms of the build-up of magic and belief that can make an evocation successful, or not as the case may be. Continue reading →